Bhat, Prannoy cause upsets; Kashyap out

NAGPUR: Indians had a ball in the German Open badminton tournament in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany, on Wednesday. Barring Parupalli Kashyap, all other Indians recorded superb victories.

Aravind Bhat and HS Prannoy caused upsets by knocking out top-ranked seeds, while Arundhati Pantawane and PC Thulasi rallied brilliantly to carve out thrilling wins in the women's section.

Former national champion Bhat stunned third seed and World No. 10 Yun Hu of Hong Kong 21-17, 16-21, 21-11 to enter the third round. Bhat will now meet Daren Liew of Malaysia on Thursday.

In an all-Indian clash, Prannoy shocked his senior practice partner P Kashyap, seeded No. 9, in straight games to advance to the next round. Anand Pawar was the other Indian to secure his place in the men's singles third round.

Arundhati recorded a spectacular come-from-behind victory over Line Kjaersfeldt of Denmark to enter the second round. Nagpur's Arundhati lost the first game (17-21) and was within two points of crashing out of the tournament. But the gutsy Indian showed remarkable fighting spirit to win the second game at 22-20 and then clinched the match by pocketing the third at 21-19.

To cap a perfect day, Thulasi got past Li Michelle of Canada in three tense games. In an hour-long battle, Thulasi, who qualified for the main draw after winning two qualifying rounds, raced ahead after losing the first game 7-21.